Bholaa

The oscillating emotions and journey of the audience ever since the marketingsnippets of Bholaa have dropped are the range of emotions that can best describe a toxic relationship, its red flags are evident, upon first meeting you get excited for the thrills it presents, you become hopeful for something new and unpredictable and as soon as one spends more time and pays attention to the finer details, one limits their expectations and distances themselves. So has been the case for me regarding Bholaa’s announcement, its teasers dropping and the final releases of the trailer and songs. Of skepticism yet hopefulness despite it being a remake of the exhilarating Kaithi, all because of the technical prowess and potential of Ajay Devgn as a director whom is not intending to create a scene to scene remake or at least I thought so. The film focusses on Bholaa played by Ajay Devgn who is released from jail after serving a ten year sentence, with the sole purpose now with this new lease of life, to unite with his daughter that he never met! Due to unforeseen circumstances, he is handed over a mission by IPS Diana Joseph played by Tabu to transport several policemen whom have been drugged and are in dire need of medical assistance. The bounty on the heads of policemen whom have carried out a massive drug bust leads to several gang members making sure that the truck driven by Bholaa doesn’t reach its desired destination. The exhilarating journey and the conflict that arises leading to several action set pieces forms, what is essentially Ajay Devgn’s rendition of Kaithi. Here’s me telling you the good and bad aspects of the film so that you guys can ultimately decide whether to watch Bholaa in theatres or not! Cinematography & Production Design: The technical prowess of Ajay Devgn, the director just cannot be discounted. While there are several problems, like most Ajay Devgn films with the writing, specifically the screenplay of the film, you know when you’re stepping in for a Ajay Devgn directorial venture, its going to be technically strong! I feared the movie to be extremely CGI heavy with its backdrops and setting, where it would take away from not actually feeling like its set in UP but that is far from the truth. The cinematography by Aseem Bajaj, capturing the initial portions of UP with Tabu’s chase sequence, Bholaa’s origin story, the several action sequences captured across the journey and especially the portrayal of Varanasi across the edge of the river as the festivities and Pooja commence is a sight to marvel on the big screen! This especially stands out in the penultimate action set piece as the Shiva statue becomes the backdrop and Ajay warrior mode annihilates everyone! Halt In Screenplay & Jarring Item Song: One of the strongest qualities of a film like Kaitihi is that the inference to Dilli’s origin story is simply through a tale told by him and one assumes the visuals of what may have transpired. The emotional core of the film is the longing Dilli has for his daughter and it is conveyed beautifully by Karthi’s performance. The storytelling works and depends on inference and the conviction of the actor rather than spoon feeding the audience with why, what and where through a song. This is where NAZAR LAG JAAYEGI plays and one understand’s Bholaa’s origin, his rizz ability to get the girl, him being of influence vs the original where he is below the poverty line and this halts the proceedings of what is otherwise an engaging action film. The romantic core exists even in the original film but it never deviates the journey and never causes the audience to assume that this might be the perfect opportunity for a loo break. An element that also feels unnecessary in Bholaa is to showcase an item song called PAAN DUKANIYA where the intention is to only introduce the villains, specifically Deepak Dobriyal and his crew as unhinged animals and aids nothing to the storytelling. The song is also not even peppy to be entertaining and the Choreography is of the girl drop kicking the pervs that surround her. I wonder why Ajay Devgn believed it to be necessary to integrate music in this film when a venture like Drishyam 2 without music still connected and thoroughly engaged audiences Mixed Bag With Action: The only unique quality of this film as compared to Kaithi is its execution of action along the journey to the hospital and the fact that Biryani is replaced with TANDOOR CHICKEN. This actually was my biggest trigger to watch the film as Ajay Devgn really has a keen interest in capturing unique action choreography. Sadly, what one assumes Ajay will be strongest at, is a mixed bag. Some of the action lands really well but some of it is choppy and incoherent to say the least. The introduction of Tabu in a fast paced chase sequence is brilliantly captured but the much talked about bikes chasing the truck is not only poorly executed but edited so haphazardly that it barely leaves any impact! Ajay Devgn referenced this as his version of mad max and its packed with many KUCH BHI moments of punching the bike away in mid air, The CGI is very apparent and essentially, Ajay playing ROAD RASH but its choreography being lacklustre at best! There are three sequences though where Ajay shines and that is when he goes in supreme MORTAL KOMBAT mode breaking bones, when he uses his TRISHUL to kill the goons in the penultimate sequence and finally becoming more or less a superhero while rescuing Tabu. I wished for a more consistent quality in action but it is not the case with this film. Hit & A Miss Comedy & Stand Out Cast Members: The funniest element of the film is Kadchi who joins Ajay and Tabu along the journey. Being referenced as CHAMACH KARCHI BELAN and PATEELA, he is frustrated at the turn of events that have occurred and offers great comedic relief in the film. However, some of the dialogues sprinkled across the screenplay would mostly generate crickets, one of the goons telling Deepak Dobriyal, ANDAR BOHAT DARK HAI, NIGHT HAI TOH ANDAR DARK TOH HOGA HEE or Deepak enquiring about Bholaa, asking JAIL SE AAYA HAI GYM SE? Sanjay Mishra also has his naturally funny moments but I’ve come to the conclusion that he can leave a mark no matter in what film he features in. Tabu is formidable in her role, physically really shining at points of physical combat but I felt was mostly in auto pilot mode, just mouthing her dialogues rather than being fully invested in the characters around her. Ajay’s attempt was to showcase his villains as batshit crazy and Vineet Kumar as Nithari and Deepak Dobriyal as Ashu are standouts, Dobriyal especially as the unhinged coke fiend has several intimidating moments. In my personal opinion however, I preferred the portrayal done by Arjun Das, that was far more scary than this one! The Science Behind Mass & Soul Of The Original Film: The consistent problems with Ajay Devon’s directorial ventures continue with this film as well where the set pieces stand out but the cohesive structure of the film is as banal and straight forward as ever! You remember talking about Runway 34 and how it would have been such a clever and crisp thriller, had it just not presented the storyline in a chronological order, Bholaa also drags along a similar path of expected beats where one whom is privy to the original source material will finding nothing particularly original or inventive other than the demonic ways in which the villains are styled and one more important point. Ajay Devgn as Bholaa is presented as this larger than life unbeatable force to be reckon with, he is stoic to the point of barely even breaking down when met with the memory of his lover and child he has not met but Kaithi on the other hand was always the underdog and broke down several times, thinking about the union he will have with his daughter, beautifully in one scene referencing her physical features and how similar it is to both her parents. This longing for the child, this father-daughter bond that keeps the protagonists going is missing in this film. While Ajay is brilliant in his physical ability to execute action scenes, I think the soul of the film was lost as AJAY is presented as this larger than life enigma in this movie, constantly assisted by a voice over describing his qualities and so intimidating that even leopards run away in fear. The vulnerability and weakness of Bholaa was missing and I feel it was a result of the trappings of star service vs aiding the character. There is a science to elevating a character and still making it human with complexities and I think Lokesh has mastered that with ventures like Kaithi and Vikram, the lacklustre score in Bholaa by Ravi Basrur with some rudimentary staging and editing in parts which should have immediately generated hooting and cheering otherwise becomes a huge drawback! #Bholaa like most #AjayDevgn directorial ventures is technically adept but routine in its screenplay. One can only enjoy or be engaged with this film if they haven’t seen #Kaithi Despite some good performances & interesting ideas: it’s not a knockout like it’s source material.